Distribution warehouse and method for arranging different articles in an order-oriented manner by means of a reduced buffer

ABSTRACT

A method for arranging different articles in an order-oriented manner from a long-term warehouse in accordance with a plurality of orders, comprising a) defining an analysis quantity; b) quasi-continuously transferring stored articles in an article-pure manner from the long-term warehouse to the short-term warehouse by selecting an arbitrary one of the article types contained in the analysis quantity, analyzing each of the orders of the analysis quantity in dependence on the selected article type, determining total requirements of the selected article type, and transferring the total requirements of the selected article type from the long-term warehouse to the short-term warehouse; c) determining at least one complete order; d) discharging a subset of the transferred articles from the short-term warehouse; and e) repeating the steps c) and d) until each of the orders of the analysis quantity has become complete.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of the co-pending internationalpatent application WO 2012/171826 A2 (PCT/EP2012/060562) filed on Jun.5, 2012, which claims the priority of the German patent application DE10 2011 104 511.6 filed on Jun. 15, 2011, both of which are incorporatedherewith by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for arranging differentarticles in an order-oriented manner from a long-term warehouse inaccordance with a plurality of orders, in particular picking orders, andalso relates to a distribution system and a computer program.

RELATED PRIOR ART

Many processes within a distribution warehouse require buffering ofto-be-picked articles, in particular picking process, i.e. when articlesare arranged in accordance with orders. However, in general buffering isa no value-added process and additionally requires space andcorresponding equipment.

DE 10 2009 019 511 B3 discloses a storage and picking system. DE 10 2008036 564 A1 discloses a scalable shipping buffer. DE 10 2008 046 325 A1discloses a system and method for automatically picking articles intoorder containers. DE 20 2010 005 643 U1 discloses a system for managingmaterial flow in a warehouse by means of computers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide anenhanced distribution system and an enhanced method for arranging (in anorder-oriented manner) different articles from a long-term warehouse inaccordance with a plurality of orders.

According to a first aspect of the invention it is disclosed a methodfor arranging different articles in an order-oriented manner from along-term warehouse in accordance with a plurality of orders, inparticular picking orders, which comprises the following steps: a)defining an analysis quantity comprising a quantity of n orders, whereineach of the orders of the analysis quantity comprises at least one orderline, wherein each of the order lines respectively specifies one orderedarticle with regard to an article type thereof and with regard to numberof pieces; b) quasi-continuously transferring in an article-pure mannerstored articles from a long-term warehouse to a short-term warehousecomprising the following steps: i) selecting one arbitrary article typecontained in the analysis quantity; ii) analyzing each of the orders ofthe analysis quantity in dependence on the selected article type; iii)determining total requirements for the selected article type; iv)transferring the total requirements of the selected article type fromthe long-term warehouse to the short-term warehouse; v) repeating thesteps i) to iv) for one other article type which is contained in theanalysis quantity and which has not yet been selected, until eacharticle type which is contained in the analysis quantity is selected,analyzed and transferred; c) determining at least one complete order,preferably by repeatedly scanning and checking the transferred articleswith regard to complete orders, wherein a complete order is one of theorders of the analysis quantity, the associated articles of which arealready in the short-term warehouse; d) discharging a subset oftransferred articles from the short-term warehouse, wherein the subsetincludes at least all of the ordered articles of the at least onecomplete order; and e) repeating the steps c) and d) until each of theorders of the analysis quantity has become complete.

According to a second aspect it is disclosed, in a distribution systemwhich comprises a long-term warehouse and a short-term warehouse, amethod for arranging articles of different article types in anorder-oriented manner from the long-term warehouse in accordance with aplurality of orders, comprising the following steps: a) defining ananalysis quantity, which comprises a quantity of several orders, whereineach of the orders of the analysis quantity comprises at least one orderline, wherein each of the order lines respectively specifies an orderedarticle with regard to the respective article type and with regard to arespectively ordered number of pieces; b) transferring stored articlesin an article-oriented manner from the long-term warehouse to theshort-term warehouse comprising the steps of: i) selecting an arbitraryone of the article types contained in the analysis quantity; ii)analyzing each of the orders of the analysis quantity in dependence onthe selected article type; iii) determining total requirements of theselected article type; iv) transferring the total requirements of theselected article type from the long-term warehouse to the short-termwarehouse; v) repeating the steps i) to iv) for another one of thearticle types contained in the analysis quantity, which has not yet beenselected, until each one of the article types contained in the analysisquantity is selected, analyzed and transferred; c) determining at leastone complete order, wherein a complete order is one of the orders of theanalysis quantity the associated articles of which are all alreadylocated in the short-term warehouse; d) discharging a subset of thetransferred articles from the short-term warehouse, wherein the subsetcomprises at least each of the ordered articles of the at least onecomplete order; and e) repeating the steps c) and d) until each of theorders of the analysis quantity is completed.

In addition, a third aspect of the invention relates to a distributionsystem having a long-term warehouse, a short-term warehouse, a conveyorand a control, wherein the conveyor connects the long-term warehouse ina conveying manner to the short-term warehouse, and wherein the controlis adapted to execute the method of the present invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention it is disclosed adistribution system comprising a long-term warehouse, a short-termwarehouse, a conveyor, and a control, wherein the conveyor connects thelong-term warehouse in a conveying manner to the short-term warehouse,and wherein the control is adapted to execute the following steps: a)defining an analysis quantity, which comprises a quantity of severalorders, wherein each of the orders of the analysis quantity comprises atleast one order line, wherein each of the order lines respectivelyspecifies an ordered article with regard to the respective article typeand with regard to a respectively ordered number of pieces; b)transferring stored articles in an article-oriented manner from thelong-term warehouse to the short-term warehouse comprising the steps of:i) selecting an arbitrary one of the article types contained in theanalysis quantity; ii) analyzing each of the orders of the analysisquantity in dependence on the selected article type; iii) determiningtotal requirements of the selected article type; iv) transferring thetotal requirements of the selected article type from the long-termwarehouse to the short-term warehouse; and v) repeating the steps i) toiv) for another one of the article types contained in the analysisquantity, which has not yet been selected, until each one of the articletypes contained in the analysis quantity is selected, analyzed andtransferred; c) determining at least one complete order, wherein acomplete order is one of the orders of the analysis quantity theassociated articles of which are all already located in the short-termwarehouse; d) discharging a subset of the transferred articles from theshort-term warehouse, wherein the subset comprises at least each of theordered articles of the at least one complete order; and e) repeatingthe steps c) and d) until each of the orders of the analysis quantity iscompleted

A huge advantage of the invention is that the size (number of bufferlocations) of the short-term warehouse (or of the buffer) can be reducedsignificantly. The size and capacity of the buffer of the presentinvention is significantly smaller than the capacity of a conventionalbuffer. As a result less parts (e.g. conveyors) are required forinstalling the buffer. The investment costs are reduced. The requiredspace is reduced. Nevertheless, the throughput (completely processedorders per unit of time) is increased. The method of the invention isextremely flexible with regard to the determination of temporal limitsof order windows. Rush orders can be inserted into the processing of agroup of orders without problems at any time, and can be processed inparticular with a higher priority.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment a first article type isselected during a first run of the step i), which belongs to a firstorder, and only during a subsequent run of the step i) such articletypes are selected next which also belong to the first order, before anarticle type is selected which belongs to another order.

Hence, the articles are not only transferred from the long-termwarehouse into the short-term warehouse in an article-oriented manner,but are also processed in an order-oriented manner. The article-orientedtransfer happens simultaneously to the article-oriented processing ofthe ordered articles.

This means, amongst other things, that the article types are selected inparticular in an order-oriented manner in the step i).

With another advantageous embodiment the short-term warehouse is sizedsuch that one or more of the complete orders are collected in theshort-term warehouse before the short-term warehouse is full.

The short-term warehouse is to be sized such that at least one order canbe collected completely. However, the short-term warehouse issignificantly smaller than a conventional buffer which can receive allarticles of all of the orders of the analysis quantity.

In particular this means that a capacity of the short-term warehouse issmaller than a total number of all of the ordered articles of all of theorders of the analysis quantity.

Further, it is preferred that the step of discharging happens whilefurther article types, which are selected newly, are transferredarticle-purely.

This expresses the concurrence of the article-oriented andorder-oriented processes which are utilized with the method of theinvention

It is ideal if the ordered articles are distributed in accordance withthe Pareto principle. In particular, one or more different C-typearticles can be transferred article-purely to the short-term warehouseon a speculative basis, e.g. based on average values, so that thearticle-oriented transfer of the article type(s) which belong to thecorresponding C-type articles only happens once.

In this case, storage machine only needs to be moved once for puttingall of the C-type articles of this type from the long-term warehouseinto the buffer which occur in the orders over a longer unit of time,e.g. distributed over an entire day. The storage machine in thelong-term warehouse is relieved. Conventionally, an analysis periodwhich defines the analysis quantity, as a rule, is shorter than one day.This results, in particular for C-type articles, in a bad pickingpattern, i.e. the C-type articles are frequently retrieved by thestorage machines, namely often in very small quantities. The inventionavoids this drawback.

Additionally, it is advantageous that the analysis quantity is analyzedwith regard to existing article types before the step of article-puretransferring happens, in order to generate an overview of the differentarticle types from which respectively one article type is selected inthe step i).

This analysis can be useful for the retrieval of articles from thelong-term warehouse. Instead of analyzing the orders in anorder-oriented manner, the orders can be analyzed in a storage-locationoriented manner. In this way, for example, such articles can be analyzedin a preferred manner which have a relatively short way from thelong-term storage location to the short-term warehouse.

With another particular embodiment all of the method steps are conductedin an automated manner.

Then, the distribution system is operated fully automatically. Allcommands which are required for controlling the different components ofthe distribution system, in terms of material flow, are generated andoutput by the control so that a human interaction is not necessary. Ofcourse, picking and/or packing can be done manually.

Further, it is an advantage if the step of checking for complete orderscomprises: scanning the article types and the associated numbers ofpieces of the transferred articles which are currently located in theshort-term warehouse; and determining for each of the orders of theanalysis quantity by comparison whether all associated ordered articlesare detected in accordance with their article types and their respectivenumbers of pieces.

The determination of complete orders can already happen before onesingle article is put from the long-term warehouse to the short-termwarehouse. In this case, the control has knowledge of the sequence ofthe article-pure transfer and can reserve, based on this knowledge, e.g.specific areas (buffer locations) in the buffer for specific orders.Additionally, the control can then have knowledge of which of thesubsets can be discharged from the buffer at a specific point in time.

Further, it is advantageous if a rush order having high processingpriority is added, preferably afterwards, to the analysis quantity andanalyzed with regard to the article types contained therein, wherein thearticle types of the rush order are processed in accordance with theprocessing priority temporarily before such article types which have notyet been selected and which have a lower processing priority.

Rush orders can be added to the analysis quantity at any time, even ifthe analysis quantity is already determined. Due to the consideration ofprocessing priorities the article type appearing in the rush order canbe processed in a preferred manner, even if the article type of the rushorder has already been processed (analyzed) in a conventional cycleduring the processing of the analysis quantity. Thus, the inventionallows to react fast and flexible with regard to rush orders, withoutaffecting the remaining processes in the system in a disadvantageousmanner.

With another preferred embodiment the subset discharged in the step d)is transferred to a sorting device, wherein such articles which belongto the complete orders are sorted out, and remaining articles which donot belong to any of the complete orders are buffered in the sortingdevice until missing articles can be discharged to the sorting devicewhich are defining together with the remaining articles new completeorders.

In particular, the method of the invention additionally comprises thesteps of: collecting a first group of orders comprising more than norders which lie within a first temporal window, wherein the analysisquantity corresponds to a second group of orders which lies within asecond temporal window being smaller than the first temporal window; andrepeatedly returning to the step a) if each of the orders of theanalysis quantity has become one of the complete orders, in order todefine a new analysis quantity based on such orders of the first groupwhich lie outside of the second temporal window and within the firsttemporal window until each of the orders of the first group has becomeone of the complete orders and has been discharged.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention a computerprogram is proposed, which is adapted to execute a method comprising thesteps of: a) defining an analysis quantity, which comprises a quantityof several orders, wherein each of the orders of the analysis quantitycomprises at least one order line, wherein each of the order linesrespectively specifies an ordered article with regard to the respectivearticle type and with regard to a respectively ordered number of pieces;b) transferring stored articles in an article-oriented manner from along-term warehouse to a short-term warehouse comprising the steps of:i) selecting an arbitrary one of the article types contained in theanalysis quantity; ii) analyzing each of the orders of the analysisquantity in dependence on the selected article type; iii) determiningtotal requirements of the selected article type; iv) transferring thetotal requirements of the selected article type from the long-termwarehouse to the short-term warehouse; and v) repeating the steps i) toiv) for another one of the article types contained in the analysisquantity, which has not yet been selected, until each one of the articletypes contained in the analysis quantity is selected, analyzed andtransferred; c) determining at least one complete order, wherein acomplete order is one of the orders of the analysis quantity theassociated articles of which are all already located in the short-termwarehouse; d) discharging a subset of the transferred articles from theshort-term warehouse, wherein the subset comprises at least each of theordered articles of the at least one complete order; and e) repeatingthe steps c) and d) until each of the orders of the analysis quantity iscompleted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is clear that the above-mentioned and hereinafter still to beexplained features cannot only be used in the respectively indicatedcombination but also in other combinations or alone, without departingfrom the scope of the present invention.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings andwill be explained in the subsequent specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a distribution system in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 2 shows a diagram for explaining preparation of orders andprocessing of orders in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary customer order or picking order;

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 5A shows a flowchart of the step S12 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5B shows an example for explaining FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the steps of determining complete orders anddischarging subsets in accordance with FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for handling a rush order; and

FIGS. 8A and 8B show an exemplary embodiment of the buffer of FIG. 1.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a distribution system or distributiondevice 10 in accordance with the invention.

The distribution system 10 can comprise a goods receipt (WE) 12, along-term warehouse 14, a short-term warehouse (hereinafter alsodesignated as “buffer”) 16, a sorting device 18, a goods issue (WA) 20and/or a control device 24. The elements 12-20 can be connected to eachother by means of a conveyor 22 (in a mutual manner). FIG. 1 shows someexemplary material flow connections in terms of one or more of theconveyors 22. In this sense the goods receipt 12 is connected to thelong-term warehouse 14. The long-term warehouse 14 is respectivelyconnected to the short-term warehouse, or the buffer, 16, the sortingdevice 18 and the goods issue 20. The short-term warehouse, or thebuffer, 16 is connected to the sorting device 18. The sorting device 18is connected to the goods issue 20. The conveyor 22 is a technicalsystem which can have different complexities where conveying devices ofsame or different types can fulfill conveying tasks. There are differentconveyor types such as roller conveyors, belt conveyors, chainconveyors, overhead conveyors and the like, which can be utilized. Thepresent invention is compatible with all of the conveyor types.Preferably, overhead conveyors are used.

The control 24 can be connected in terms of control either wirelessly(cf. arrow 26) or via fixed lines 28 to the components 12-20. Thecontrol 24 can be responsible, amongst other things, for the materialflow within the distribution system 10. The control 24 is responsiblefor preparations of orders and processings of orders.

Articles, which are not shown in more detail, are supplied in greaterquantities via the goods receipt 12 to the distribution system 10. Thearticles are conveyed from the goods receipt 12 to the long-termwarehouse 14. There, the articles serve as supply for processing(picking) orders.

One order consists of one or more order positions which are alsodesignated as order lines. One order line indicates a respectivequantity (number of pieces) of one article type which has been orderedby a customer. The structure of an exemplary order will be explained inmore details with reference to FIG. 3. An order batch is to beunderstood in the following as the concatenation of a number of ordersto form a processing lot.

In the following an article is to be understood as a piece good. Onearticle is a (smallest) unit of an article range which can bedistinguished by article types. The piece goods are individuallydistinguishable goods which can be handled individually and stock ofwhich is listed piecewise or in terms of a bundle. The bundle is acommon term for one handable unit which can be moved manually or bymeans of technical devices (conveyors). Bundles can also be representedby a subset of one load unit such as a box of beverages on a palletloaded completely with boxes of beverages. In the following, the termsarticle, bundle and piece good are used equivalently. If one article istransported via the conveyor 22 this is also called a conveying good.

Returning to FIG. 1 the articles are transferred temporarily from thelong-term warehouse 14, which comprises a very huge storage capacity(typically several 100.000 articles) to the short-term warehouse, or thebuffer, 16. The buffer 16 comprises a much smaller capacity (e.g. 5.000articles) than the warehouse 14. The transfer of articles from thelong-term warehouse 14 to the buffer 16 happens for the purpose oforder-picking, i.e. for the purpose of arranging different articles inaccordance with different orders. As soon as all articles of one orderare in the buffer 16, the order is complete and can be discharged eitherto the sorting device 18 or directly to the goods issue 20. If thebuffer 16 does not have a sorting functionality the articles can bedischarged to the sorting device 18 for the purpose of sorting.Otherwise, i.e. if the buffer 16 has a sorting functionality or sortingis not required, the articles of the (complete) order can be supplieddirectly to the goods issue 20. It is clear that article-pure orders,i.e. orders comprising articles of one single article type only, can betransferred directly from the long-term warehouse 14 to the goods issue20.

In FIG. 2 diagram 30 is shown. The diagram 30 serves for explainingprocesses within the distribution system 10 with reference to orders Ai(i is an integer) which are received, for example, over an entire dayand are processed. In the left half of FIG. 2 a vertically oriented timebeam 32 is shown for visualizing one day (0:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.). One daycan be divided temporarily into different order slots (BS). In FIG. 2three order slots BS1-BS3 are shown. A first order slot can comprise,for example, such orders Ai which are received between 6:00 a.m. and10:00 a.m., wherein the order receipt does not need to happen physicallywithin the distribution system 10. The orders Ai can be put at traders,for example, via the Internet, who in turn send the so-collected orderselectronically or via mail to the distribution system 10. A second orderslot BS2 can last from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. A third order slot can lastfrom 4:00 p.m.-6:00 a.m. of the next day. After that the cycle beginsfrom the start. It is clear that temporal limits of the order slots BScan be set variably as will be explained hereinafter in more detail.

In order to facilitate the explanation of the present invention, thefirst order slot BS1 is exemplarily viewed hereinafter. For this purposethe time beam 32 is shown at the right hand side in a zoomed manner. Intotal, m=n+10 orders Ai (i=1 . . . , n+10) are received in the orderslot BS1 between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. The orders Ai can be numberedcontinuously dependent on the respective temporal receipt. In order toavoid waiting to 10:00 a.m., so that the processing of the orders Ai canbe started, a first subset of the n+10 orders Ai can be selected forfurther processing exemplarily at 9:15 a.m. In this manner a (first)analysis quantity AM is defined including all the orders Ai (i=1, . . ., n) wherein the last order received before 9:15 a.m. is the order An.Hence the analysis quantity AM is defined by

-   -   AM={A1, . . . , An}.

It is clear that a temporal division of an individual order slot BS intoa number of analysis quantities is of an exemplary nature only.Typically one order slot BS is converted to one single analysisquantity. A big advantage of the invention is to be seen in that, undera pre-given search depth (i.e. including pre-given temporal limits ofthe analysis quantity), the physical size (capacity) of the short-termwarehouse or the buffer 16 is reduced in comparison to conventionalapproaches. This is achieved by a (quasi-)continuous partial emptying ofthe buffer 16. For the purpose of performing the partial emptying asfast and reasonable (in terms of the picking orders) as possible thebuffer 16 is filled in accordance with the invention. The buffer 16 isfilled in such a manner that a reasonable partial emptying can happen asfast as and as frequent as possible. In this case all the articlesrequired for the partial emptying (subset/group of orders) are in thebuffer 16. Thus, the analysis quantity is normally not restricted aswill be explained hereinafter.

Thus, as it will be explained exemplarily hereinafter in more detail,the orders Ai of the analysis quantity AM are analyzed with regard tothe article types—preferably in an order-oriented manner—contained inthe analysis quantity AM for determining how many piece goods orarticles of a j^(th) article type Sj are required in total in all of theorders Ai of the analysis quantity AM. In FIG. 2, for example, 43articles S1 of the first article type, 27 articles S2 of the secondarticle type, 19 articles S3 of the third article type, and so on arerequired. Each of the article types Sj is retrieved article-purely fromthe long-term warehouse 14 and stored in the buffer 16. The articletypes Sj are transferred subsequently, i.e. quasi-continuously, from thelong-term warehouse 14 to the buffer 16 as soon as it is respectivelyclear how many articles of the article type Sj are required (totalrequirements). The article-pure movement has the advantage that astorage machine (not shown) in the long-term warehouse 14 is operatedfor each article type Sj in best case only one single time forprocessing all of the orders Ai of the order slot BS. The retrieval fromthe long-term warehouse 14 thus happens in an article-oriented manner.As soon as the first article type S1 is analyzed, it is transferred andthe analysis quantity AM is analyzed in dependence on a second articletype S2. As soon as the first article type S1 has been transferred andthe analysis with regard to the second article type S2 is finished, thesecond article type S2 can be transferred. This is repeated until all ofthe article types of all of the orders Ai of the analysis quantity AMare analyzed and transferred. Thus, the buffer 16 is filled continuouslyover time.

While the buffer 16 is filled with growing time, it can be checkedrepeatedly whether all of the articles of any (arbitrary) order Ai arepresent in the buffer 16. It is clear that the control 24 can alreadydetermine in advance at which time all of the articles of one of theorders Ai are completely present in the buffer 16. In this case it isonly detected whether a required article type Sj has been transferred tothe buffer 16 (e.g. by means of a sensor 66 at the entry of the buffer).

As soon as at least one of the orders Ai is completely present in thebuffer 16, i.e. all of the articles of this order are present, a subset,which is also designated hereinafter as a fragment, of articles locatedin the buffer 16 can be discharged. The discharging can happenoptionally to the sorting device 18 (capacity: e.g. 500 articles) if thebuffer 16 itself is not provided with a sorting functionality. Thus, thebuffer 16 is continuously filled and emptied so that the buffer 16 needsto have a small capacity only.

The fact that subsets or fragments Fk are discharged again and again isindicated in FIG. 2 by means of a broken line 34 which is formed like aloop.

If all of the orders Ai are complete and have been discharged, and ifthe analysis quantity AM has not included all of the orders Ai of theorder slop BS, as it is the case e.g. for the order slot BS1 in FIG. 2,the method of the invention can be applied to one or more remaininganalysis quantities AM_(REST), containing such orders Ai which came in,for example, in a temporal window reaching from 9:15 a.m.-10:00 a.m.This is the quantity {A_(n+i), . . . , A_(n+10)}=AM_(REST) in FIG. 2.

With reference to FIG. 3 one of the orders 14 is exemplarily shown,which typically is provided and processed in terms of a data set. Theorder 14 can comprise a header 42, a priority field 44 and/or an articlefield 46. The header 42′ can comprise, amongst other things, informationon the customer who has put the order, to (customer's) addresses or tocustomer's identification number as well as an order number. Thepriority field 44 contains information on whether the order is normal ora rush order. Rush orders are orders with high (processing) prioritieswhich are typically handled in a preferred manner compared to the normalorders, and can be added to the analysis quantity AM afterwards.

The article field 46 comprises order lines 48-1 to 48-j. Each of theorder lines 48 comprises at least information on a number 50 of piecesof an ordered article or on an article type 52. The first order line48-1 at the first position (pos.1) represents an order of 13 units ofcough mixture. The order line 48-2 at the second position represents anorder of 45 units of nose drops. It is clear that the example selectedfrom the field of pharmaceuticals can also be applied to other fieldssuch as food retail, online book trade or similar. Typically each of thelines 48 represents a different article type Sj. The same article typeSj, however, can also be present several times within one order Ai.

In FIG. 4 a flow chart of a method 60 in accordance with the inventionis shown. The method 60 serves for arranging stored articles inaccordance with one order 40 as shown exemplarily in FIG. 3.

In a first step S10 the analysis quantity AM is defined (cf. FIG. 2).The analysis quantity AM comprises n orders Ai. Each of the orders Ai ofthe analysis quantity AM comprises at least one order line 48. Each ofthe order lines 48 specifies one ordered article dependent on itsarticle type 52 and its ordered number 50 of pieces. The sum of all ofthe articles of the analysis quantity AM can be expressed by thefollowing equation:

$\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}{\sum\limits_{j = 1}^{m}{\alpha \; j\mspace{11mu} {Sij}}}$

The index i represents the order number. The index j represents theorder line of each of the orders. The factor αj represents the number 50of pieces of the associated order line 48-j.

In a second step S12 stored articles are transferred from the long-termwarehouse 14 (quasi-)continuously, i.e. articlewise, in an article-puremanner and continuously, into the buffer 16. The step S12 is explainedin more detail in FIG. 5A.

In the next step S14 complete orders are determined. A complete order isone of the orders Ai of the analysis quantity AM, the associatedarticles of which have all already been transferred to the buffer 16.

The feeding of (new) articles from the long-term warehouse 14 to thebuffer 16 can be detected. Thus the control 24 has information on thatthe new article has arrived in the buffer 16 and thus is available forfurther processing. Also, the article type 52 (once again) can bedetected additionally (e.g. by means of RFID-tags).

In a step S16 one subset of articles present in the buffer 16 isdischarged from the buffer 16. The subset includes all of the articleswhich belong to at least one of the complete orders. The subset can alsoinclude more articles than comprised in the at least one complete order.Such additional articles do not need to form an individual completeorder again.

In a step S18 it is checked whether new articles have been fed to thebuffer 16. If new articles have been fed to the buffer 16, new completeorders can be discharged in terms of a new subset from the buffer 16.

If no new articles have been added to the buffer 16 it is inquired in astep S20 whether all of the articles of all of the orders of theanalysis quantity AM have been discharged. If not all of the articleshave been discharged, it is returned to the step S16 while new completeorders are determined. If all of the articles of all of the orders havebeen discharged, the method, as a rule, ends except that the analysisquantity AM does not include all of the orders Ai of a respective one ofthe order slots BS. If there are remaining residual orders (cf. theorders An+1 through An+10 in FIG. 2) it is returned to the step S10.

In FIG. 5A the method step S12 of FIG. 4 is explained in more detail interms of a flow chart. The method step S12 comprises the followingsteps: selecting one article type Sj (which has not been selectedbefore) from all of the orders of the analysis quantity AM (step S22);analyzing the orders Ai of the analysis quantity AM (step 24) withregard to the selected article type Sj; determining the totalrequirements of the selected article type (step S26); transferring thetotal requirements from the long-term warehouse 14 to the buffer 16(step S28); and inquiring (step S30) whether (additional) article typeswhich have not been selected are present, wherein it is returned to thestep S22 if not all of the selected article types are present.Preferably all of the article types of one order are selected at firstbefore article types of another order are selected. The deeper oneenters into the orders during the selection of the article types, themore orders are automatically finished before it is actually their turnfor being analyzed.

In order to allow conduction of the steps S22 through S30 in FIG. 5A inan easier manner, it can be wise to integrate an intermediate step S11between the steps S10 and S12 in the flow chart of FIG. 4. Thisintermediate step S11 is indicated in FIG. 4 by means of broken lines.In the step S11 an article-type analysis can be conducted with regard toall of the orders Ai after successful definition of the analysisquantity AM. During the article type analysis it determined whichdifferent article types Sj in all of the n orders Ai of the analysisquantity are present.

Returning to FIG. 5A, a first article type S1 of a first order A1 istypically selected in step S22 by means of the first order line 48-1.Then, all of the remaining orders Ai (i≠A) of the analysis quantity AMare checked in step S24 with regard to the article type S1 (step S24).In this manner a total number of pieces, or the total requirements, ofthe selected article type S1 can be determined in the step S26. All ofthe numbers 50 of pieces from all of the orders An are summed up whichconcern the article type S1. As soon as the total requirements (overallnumber of pieces) is determined the control 24 (cf. FIG. 1) causes theretrieval of a corresponding number of pieces of articles of the articletype S1 from the long-term warehouse 14 for transferring same to thebuffer 16 (step S28). Subsequently, it is returned to the step 22 andpreferably the second article type S2 is selected, which is defined bythe second order line 48-2 of the first order A1, if the second orderline 48-2 is present. This course of action is repeated until all of thearticle types S1j, which are contained in the first order A1, have beentransferred by their respective total requirements to the buffer 16 forthe entire analysis quantity AM. If all of the articles of the firstorder A1 have been transferred to the buffer 16, one continuespreferably with the first article type S21 of the first order line 48-1of the second order A2 in the step S22, provided that this article typeis not already identical to one of the article type S1j of the firstorder A1. If one of the article types S2j of the second order A2 hasalready been finished by way of processing one of the article types S1jof the first order A1, the corresponding order line 48 of the secondorder A2 is skipped. This is repeated until an article type Sj isreached, which up to now has not been selected and transferred.

The deeper the orders Ai are processed during the method in accordancewith FIG. 5A, the more often article types Sj have already beenanalyzed. Thus, the advantages of an article-oriented retrieval from thelong-term warehouse 14 (batch picking) are utilized.

In FIG. 5B an example for explaining the method steps of FIG. 5A isshown. In the left part of FIG. 5B an analysis quantity AM having norders Ai is shown wherein only the first three orders A1 through A3 areshown in more detail. The first order A1 represents one order of fivearticles “a”, three articles “b” and one article “z”. The second orderA2 represents one order of three articles “a” and two articles “b”. Thethird order A3 represents one order of five articles “b”, two articles“c” and three articles “x”.

In accordance with the step S22 of FIG. 5A the first article “a” of thefirst order A1 is selected for the purpose of analysis. It is clear thateach of the other orders of the analysis quantity AM could have beenselected as the starting order. For example, if the order A3 would havebeen analyzed first, the article type “b” would have been selectedfirst.

Returning to the first order A1 as a starting order having the firstselected article type “a” the orders Ai of the analysis quantity AM areall analyzed with regard to the article type “a”. This is indicated inFIG. 5B by means of an arrow 62 being oriented vertically downwards,which indicates the direction of analysis.

In accordance with the step S26 of FIG. 5A in total eight articles “a”are obtained as the total requirements after a first analysis run. Thesearticles are transferred in accordance with the step S28.

After the first analysis run no articles are discharged in accordancewith the step S14 of FIG. 4 since merely eight articles “a” are locatedin the buffer 16. None of the orders Ai of the analysis quantity AM ofFIG. 5B is complete due to the eight articles “a”. For the purpose of asimplified explanation, hereinafter only the first three orders A1through A3 of FIG. 5B are considered.

In accordance with the step S30 of FIG. 5A it is then inquired whetheradditional non-selected article types Sj are present, after all of theorders Ai of the analysis quantity AM have been analyzed with regard tothe article type “a”. Since the first order A1 comprises the articletype “b” which has not yet been selected, the article type “b” issubsequently selected in accordance with the step S22. Then, theanalysis quantity AM is analyzed with regard to the article type “b”(step S24). In this way, total requirements of ten articles “b” (stepS26) is obtained. The total requirements is transferred again to thebuffer 16 in accordance with the step S28.

After the analysis quantity AM has been analyzed in dependence on thearticle types “a” and “b”, which is indicated in FIG. 5B in that thearticles “a” and “b” have been crossed out in the orders A1 through A3,at least the order A2 is complete. All of the articles (three articles“a” and two articles “b”) of the second order A2 have been transferredto the buffer 16. After each of the transfers in accordance with thestep S28 of FIG. 5A the control 24 can check whether within the buffer16 all of the articles of at least one complete order are present,except that the control 24 has not determined in advance that after thesecond analysis run with regard to the article type “b” at least thesecond order A2 is complete. In the first case, a sensor 66 (cf. FIG. 1)can be positioned, for example, at the entrance of the buffer 16, thesensor detecting the transfer of the articles, or the totalrequirements, from the long-term warehouse 14. In addition, anadditional sensor 68 (cf. FIG. 1) can be provided at the exit of thebuffer 16 for detecting such articles which are discharged from thebuffer 16. Since all of the articles of the second order A2 are locatedwithin the buffer 16 in the example of FIG. 5B, a first subset can bedischarged from the buffer 16, which at least includes the articles ofthe second order A2.

Provided that the buffer 16 does not have any sorting functionality atall, the subsets are typically discharged to a sorting device 18. In thedescribed example of FIG. 5B the first subset can comprise, for example,the eight articles “a” and the ten articles “b” which have beentransferred to the buffer 16 after the first two analysis steps. Thus,this first subset comprises the three articles “a” and the two articles“b” of the second order A2. Then the first subset comprises morearticles as required for processing the second order A2. These“unnecessary” articles (5 times a and 8 times b) can remain in thesorting device 18 and be used for processing other orders requiring thearticle types “a” and “b” as soon as they are complete.

In a third analysis run, the analysis quantity AM is analyzed withregard to the article type “z” existing in the third order line of thefirst order A1 of FIG. 5B. Since no other order (of the orders A2 andA3) comprises the article type “z”, the total requirements comprises onesingle article “z”. After the article “z” has been transferred to thebuffer 16, the control 24 knows, or determines, that the first order A1is complete (as well). The one article “z” can be discharged from thebuffer 16 in terms of a second subset since the remaining articles ofthe first order A1 have already been discharged by means of the firstsubset. It is clear that one can wait longer until more of the ordersare complete so that the second subset does not only include the onearticle “z” during the discharge from the buffer 16.

Due to the example of FIG. 5B it is simply visible that the orders Ai ofthe analysis quantity AM do not necessarily need to be processed andfinished according to the temporal sequence of an order receipt. Forexample, the second order A2 is processed and finished before the firstorder A1. The deeper the analysis quantity AM is analyzed, the more ofthe orders Ai are already complete before they are actually analyzedwith regard to their article types. Since complete orders are to bedischarged as fast as possible from the buffer 16, the size or capacityof the buffer 16 can be chosen very small. Thus, the investment costsare reduced. The arrangement of the articles with regard to the ordersis accelerated. The arrangement of the orders Ai occurs extremelyflexible. Rush orders can be incorporated at any time without problemsinto the already defined analysis quantity AM and, if desired, can beprocessed in a preferred manner. This will be explained in more detailbelow.

In FIG. 6 a flow chart is shown which explains the method steps S14 andS16 of FIG. 4 in more detail.

The flow chart of FIG. 6 serves for explaining the exemplary case thatthe control 24 does not have knowledge in advance when and whether oneof the orders Ai is complete. In FIG. 6 the control 24 determines againand again whether one of the orders Ai is complete. This check canhappen periodically or discretely in dependence on transfer of newarticles in accordance with the step S12 (cf. FIG. 4).

After a “new” article-pure group (total requirements) of articles hasbeen transferred from the long-term warehouse 14 to the buffer 16 (cf.step S12 in FIG. 4) in accordance with FIG. 6 in step S40 it can beinquired in a cyclic or discrete manner whether new articles havearrived in the short-term warehouse or the buffer 16. For this purpose,a sensor 66 can be provided at an entrance of the buffer 16. This sensor66 detects the entry of new articles. Optionally, the sensor 66 can alsobe adapted to detect the article type Sj. In this case, for example, anRFID reading device can be utilized which communicates with RFID chipsattached to an, preferably each, article and carrying the informationwith regard to the article type Sj. If the inquiry in the step S40results in the entry of a new article (total requirements) in the buffer16 article stock in the buffer 16 is updated in step S42. The articlestock in the buffer 16 is comparable to an inventory data set. Thearticle stock represents the number of article types Sj present in thebuffer 16.

Then, in step S44, it can be inquired whether one of the orders Ai ofthe analysis quantity AM is now complete, since in the step S40 theentry of one new article (total requirements) has been registered. Ifnone of the orders Ai is complete, it is returned to the step S40. If atleast one of the orders Ai is complete, a subset can be determined fromthe article stock in the step S46, which comprises at least the articlesof the at least one complete order. Optionally, it can be inquired instep S48 whether the articles of the subset determined in the step S46need to be sorted. Sorting can be necessary if the subset determined inthe step S46 comprises articles belonging to different complete ordersAi. In this case, it can be desirable to sort the articles with regardto the complete orders. Thus, the sorting can happen in anorder-oriented manner.

If it is determined in the step S48 that sorting is required, then instep S50 the stock within the buffer 16 can be (pre-)sorted. It is clearthat the buffer 16 in this case is provided with a sortingfunctionality. If the buffer 16 is not provided with any sortingfunctionality the subset determined in the step S46 is discharged instep S52, as indicated in FIG. 6 by means of an arrow 64, illustrated bymeans of broken lines, between the steps S46 and S52. In this case thesorting can also happen later in a separate sorting device (cf., e.g.,sorting device 18 in FIG. 1). If it is determined in the step S48 thatno sorting is necessary the subset can be discharged in the step S52.

In FIG. 7 another flow chart 70 is shown serving for explaining thehandling of a rush order.

In a first step S60 it is detected that the rush order is coming in. Theentry of the rush order can happen afterwards, i.e. after the analysisquantity AM has been defined (cf. step S10 in FIG. 4). Of course, rushorders can also be received regularly, i.e. before the analysis quantityAM is defined, namely within one of the order slots BS.

In step S62 the rush order is analyzed with regard to the article typesSj contained therein and is added to the analysis quantity AM.

In step S64 the article types Sj of the rush order can be processed in aprioritized manner, and thus can be transferred in a prioritized manner(cf. step S12 in FIG. 4). In terms of the example of FIG. 5B the rushorder can be added to the analysis quantity AM of FIG. 5B, for example,after the second analysis run is finished, i.e. after the analysisquantity AM has already been analyzed with regard to the article types“a” and “b”. If the rush order comprises, for example, one order of twoarticles “a” and four articles “t”, the article type “a” can beprocessed (once again) in a third analysis run and subsequently thearticle type “t” can be processed in a fourth analysis run. Only thenthe analysis with regard to the article types “z”, “c” and “x” follows.As soon as the article types “a” and “t” have been transferred, the rushorder is complete and can be discharged (cf. step S16 in FIG. 4).

It is clear that upon the processing of the rush order of the example ofFIG. 5B the third analysis with regard to the article type “a” can beomitted (for the time being) since the first (discharged) subsetcomprises a surplus of five articles “a” after the second order iscompletely processed. Since the rush order requires two of the articles“a” only, which are already present in the buffer 16 or in the sortingdevice 18, the analysis with regard to the article type “a” can also beshifted temporarily backwards. The repeated analysis with regard to thearticle “a” needs to happen at the latest when the articles “a” are nolonger sufficiently present in the buffer 16 or in the sorting device18, so that one of the orders Ai can no longer be served, which actuallyshould have received its articles “a” from the total requirements of thefirst analysis run.

Two embodiments 16-1 and 16-2 of the buffer 16 are schematicallyillustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B. Feeding lines 80 and discharging lines82 are shown. The first buffer 16-1 comprises a plurality ofaccumulation lines 84 which are preferably oriented substantiallystraight. The second buffer 16-2 comprises one or more (storing) circles86. The elements 80-86 can be implemented by conveyor components.Material flow direction is indicated by means of dark arrows.

The first buffer 16-1 of FIG. 8A will be explained hereinafter. Thefirst buffer 16-1 can be provided with a (limited) sortingfunctionality. The accumulation lines 84 are preferably operated in onedirection. Each of the accumulation lines 84 comprises a known capacityfor receiving a predetermined number of articles.

Provided that the control 24 has already knowledge of the time when oneof the orders Ai of the analysis quantity AM is complete, theaccumulation lines 84 can be assigned to areas dedicated to the completeorders Ai. In the example of FIG. 8A, for example, the orders A1 and A13of the example of FIG. 5B can be assigned to the accumulation line 84-1arranged the farest downstream. A next, i.e. second, accumulation line84-2 arranged downstream can be assigned, for example, to the order A1of FIG. 5B. Ideally, this assignment can be continued for all of theorders Ai of the analysis quantity AM, before a first article from thelong-term warehouse 14 is transferred to the buffer 16-1. Whether all ofthe orders Ai can be assigned to one of the accumulation lines 84depends on the number of accumulation lines and their respectivecapacities.

In accordance with the example of FIG. 5B (without a rush order) eightarticles “a” and ten articles “b” are transferred from the long-termwarehouse 14 to the buffer 16-1 as a first subset. Three articles “a” ofthe first subset can be transferred to the first accumulation line 84-1and five articles “a” of the first subset can be transferred to thesecond accumulation line 84-2. It is clear that the first buffer 16-1 isoperated with a corresponding sensor adapted to monitor and coordinatethe transfer of the individual articles to the accumulation lines 84assigned thereto. Further, two articles “b” are transferred to the firstaccumulation line 84-1 so that the second order A2 is completely presentin the first accumulation line 84-1. Three articles “b” are transferredto the second accumulation line 84-2 and five articles “b” of theremaining eight articles “b” are transferred to the third accumulationline 84-3. For illustrating the assignment of accumulation positions ofthe accumulation lines 84 to the orders Ai areas of the orders A2 andA13 are delimited against each other in the first accumulation line 84-1by means of horizontal lines. Similar applies to the orders A1 and A3which are assigned to the accumulation lines 84-2 and 84-3. It is clearthat based on the way described above all of the orders Ai can alreadybe sorted in the area of the buffer 16-1 so that a downstream sortingdevice 18 (cf. FIG. 1) is not required. As soon as one of the orders Aiis completely present in the accumulation line 84 thereof this completeorder Ai can be discharged. Thus, complete orders Ai leave the buffer16-1. If a sorting process is required within one of the orders Ai inaccordance with a predetermined sequence the orders Ai can betransferred to a subsequently arranged sorting device 18.

The sorting process for achieving the right sequence can be achieved,amongst other things, by means of the second buffer 16-2. The secondbuffer 16-2 comprises one or more (storage) circles 86. In FIG. 8B twocircles 86 are shown exemplarily. Buffered articles can be moved in acirculating manner within the circles 86. Within the circles 86 areascan be assigned to the respective total requirements of one of thearticles. The circle 86 depicted at the left-hand side of FIG. 8B servesfor buffering the articles “a”, “b”, “z”, etc. wherein the analysis andtransfer sequence of the example of FIG. 5B is referred to. Inaccordance with the predetermined analysis and transfer sequence firstthe articles “a” and then the articles “b”, etc. are fed to the circle86. As soon as one of the orders Ai of the analysis quantity AM iscomplete the articles buffered in the circles 86 can be rotated anddischarged such that complete orders arrive at the exit of the buffer16-2.

The above-described method is particularly suitable for orders which arestructured in accordance with the Pareto principle. The Pareto principledefines that in many application cases 80% of the events are caused by20% of the actors. This is also designated as the 80/20 rule. Inlogistics the principle is applied with the ABC analysis and describesthe situation which occurs frequently wherein 20% of the articles(A-type articles) generate 80% of the throughput. The throughput is aprocess by which goods of one logistic system are transferred to anotherlogistic system. For example, order-picking is such a process. The ABCanalysis is an analysis of an (article) range with regard to thedistribution of the articles dependent on a certain criterion. Typicalcriterions are, for example, turnover, quantity or access frequency. TheABC articles are generated by classifying all of the articles of thearticle range with regard to the criterion such as the access frequency.The A-type articles have a high access frequency. C-type articles have alow access frequency. The access frequency is to be understood as thenumber of requirements of one article per time unit.

The above described method can be altered upon knowledge of an ABCdistribution of the articles such that, for example, on a speculativebasis the C-type articles are retrieved in higher quantities thanactually required due to the total requirements of the analysis quantitywhich is just processed. This means, for example, that if in total threearticles of a specific C-type article are present in an analysisquantity, ten articles of this C-type article are transferred to thebuffer 16 based on average values gained due to experience. During theprocessing of the current analysis quantity, then three C-type articlesare discharged. The remaining seven C-type articles stay in the buffer16, which are, however, “consumed”—based on experience—within the courseof the subsequent analysis quantities (e.g. within one day). The numberof the C-type articles is small in comparison to the capacity of thebuffer 16 so this preliminary reduction of the capacity of the buffer 16is acceptable, because the storage machine in the long-term warehouse 14needs to be moved only once for this C-type article during this day. Inthis manner, the performance of the entire system can be increased.

In the above given description identical parts and features aredesignated by equal reference numerals. The disclosures contained in thespecification can be transferred logically to the identical parts andfeatures having the same reference numerals. Position and orientationindications (such as “up”, “down”, “lateral”, “longitudinal”,“transversal”, “horizontal”, “vertical” and the like) are related to thecurrently described Figure. If the position or orientation is changedthese indications are to be transferred logically to the new position ororientation.

Therefore, what we claim is:
 1. In a distribution system, whichcomprises a long-term warehouse and a short-term warehouse, a method forarranging articles of different article types in an order-orientedmanner from the long-term warehouse in accordance with a plurality oforders, comprising the following steps: a) defining an analysisquantity, which comprises a quantity of several orders, wherein each ofthe orders of the analysis quantity comprises at least one order line,wherein each of the order lines respectively specifies an orderedarticle with regard to the respective article type and with regard to arespectively ordered number of pieces; b) transferring stored articlesin an article-oriented manner from the long-term warehouse to theshort-term warehouse comprising the steps of: i) selecting an arbitraryone of the article types contained in the analysis quantity; ii)analyzing each of the orders of the analysis quantity in dependence onthe selected article type; iii) determining total requirements of theselected article type; iv) transferring the total requirements of theselected article type from the long-term warehouse to the short-termwarehouse; v) repeating the steps i) to iv) for another one of thearticle types contained in the analysis quantity, which has not yet beenselected, until each one of the article types contained in the analysisquantity is selected, analyzed and transferred; c) determining at leastone complete order, wherein a complete order is one of the orders of theanalysis quantity the associated articles of which are all alreadylocated in the short-term warehouse; d) discharging a subset of thetransferred articles from the short-term warehouse, wherein the subsetcomprises at least each of the ordered articles of the at least onecomplete order; and e) repeating the steps c) and d) until each of theorders of the analysis quantity is completed.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the step of transferring stored articles in an article-pureoriented manner from the long-term warehouse to the short-term warehousehappens quasi-continuously.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the stepof determining at least one complete order comprises: repeatedlydetermining and checking the transferred articles with regard tocomplete orders.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein a first one of thearticle types is selected during a first run of the step i) whichbelongs to a first one of the orders, and wherein during a subsequentrun of the step i) at first such ones of the article types are selectednext which also belong to the first one of the orders before another oneof the article types is selected, which belongs to another one of theorders.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the article types are selectedin an order-oriented manner in the step i).
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the short-term warehouse is dimensioned such that one or more ofthe complete orders are collected in the short-term warehouse before theshort-term warehouse is full.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein astorage capacity of the short-term warehouse is smaller than a totalnumber of each of the ordered articles from each of the orders of theanalysis quantity.
 8. The method of the claim 1, wherein the step ofdischarging happens while additional one of the article types, whichhave been selected newly, are transferred in an article-oriented manner.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the ordered articles are distributedin accordance with the Pareto principle.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein one or more different C-type articles are transferredspeculatively to the short-term warehouse based on average values in anarticle-oriented manner so that the article-oriented transfer happensonly once for each of the article types belonging to the C-typearticles.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the analysis quantity isanalyzed for the article types contained in the analysis quantity beforethe step of the article-oriented transfer, in order to generate anoverview of the different article types from which respectively one isselected in the step i).
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein each of themethod steps is conducted automatically.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the step of checking for complete orders comprises: detectingthe transferred articles with regard to the respective article typethereof and with regard to the associated number of pieces, which arepresently located in the short-term warehouse; and determining for eachof the orders of the analysis quantity, by way of comparison, whethereach of the associated ordered articles is detected in dependence on thearticle types thereof and on the respective numbers of pieces.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a rush order comprising a high processingpriority is added to the analysis quantity afterwards, and analyzed withregard to the article types thereof, wherein the article types of therush order are processed in accordance with the processing prioritytemporarily before the article types which have not been selected yetand which comprise a low processing priority.
 15. The method of claim 1,wherein the discharged subset of the step d) is transferred to a sortingdevice, wherein the articles belonging to the complete orders are sortedout in the sorting device and remaining articles not belonging to anyone of the complete orders are buffered until missing articles aredischarged to the sorting device which define new complete orderstogether with the remaining articles.
 16. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising the steps of: collecting a first group of orders whichcomprises more than the several orders, which lie within a first timewindow, wherein the analysis quantity corresponds to a second group oforders lying within a second time window which is smaller than the firsttime window; and repeatedly returning to the step a) if each of theorders of the analysis quantity is completed in order to define, basedon the orders of the first group, a new analysis quantity which liesoutside of the second time window and within the first time window,until each of the orders of the first group is completed and has beendischarged.
 17. A distribution system comprising a long-term warehouse,a short-term warehouse, a conveyor, and a control, wherein the conveyorconnects the long-term warehouse in a conveying manner to the short-termwarehouse, and wherein the control is adapted to execute the followingsteps: a) defining an analysis quantity, which comprises a quantity ofseveral orders, wherein each of the orders of the analysis quantitycomprises at least one order line, wherein each of the order linesrespectively specifies an ordered article with regard to the respectivearticle type and with regard to a respectively ordered number of pieces;b) transferring stored articles in an article-oriented manner from thelong-term warehouse to the short-term warehouse comprising the steps of:i) selecting an arbitrary one of the article types contained in theanalysis quantity; ii) analyzing each of the orders of the analysisquantity in dependence on the selected article type; iii) determiningtotal requirements of the selected article type; iv) transferring thetotal requirements of the selected article type from the long-termwarehouse to the short-term warehouse; and v) repeating the steps i) toiv) for another one of the article types contained in the analysisquantity, which has not yet been selected, until each one of the articletypes contained in the analysis quantity is selected, analyzed andtransferred; c) determining at least one complete order, wherein acomplete order is one of the orders of the analysis quantity theassociated articles of which are all already located in the short-termwarehouse; d) discharging a subset of the transferred articles from theshort-term warehouse, wherein the subset comprises at least each of theordered articles of the at least one complete order; and e) repeatingthe steps c) and d) until each of the orders of the analysis quantity iscompleted.
 18. Computer program adapted to execute a method comprisingthe steps of: a) defining an analysis quantity, which comprises aquantity of several orders, wherein each of the orders of the analysisquantity comprises at least one order line, wherein each of the orderlines respectively specifies an ordered article with regard to therespective article type and with regard to a respectively ordered numberof pieces; b) transferring stored articles in an article-oriented mannerfrom the long-term warehouse to the short-term warehouse comprising thesteps of: i) selecting an arbitrary one of the article types containedin the analysis quantity; ii) analyzing each of the orders of theanalysis quantity in dependence on the selected article type; iii)determining total requirements of the selected article type; iv)transferring the total requirements of the selected article type fromthe long-term warehouse to the short-term warehouse; and v) repeatingthe steps i) to iv) for another one of the article types contained inthe analysis quantity, which has not yet been selected, until each oneof the article types contained in the analysis quantity is selected,analyzed and transferred; c) determining at least one complete order,wherein a complete order is one of the orders of the analysis quantitythe associated articles of which are all already located in theshort-term warehouse; d) discharging a subset of the transferredarticles from the short-term warehouse, wherein the subset comprises atleast each of the ordered articles of the at least one complete order;and e) repeating the steps c) and d) until each of the orders of theanalysis quantity is completed.